Whatever else is said about Edward Seaga, the former Jamaican prime minister (PM), it is well known that he has a logical mind and that he tends to subject issues to clinical analyses before deciding on a course of action.

That is why we choose to presume that Mr Seaga's earlier public intervention on the matter of capital punishment, on which members of parliaments will vote today, was an aberration. He has since elaborated on his statement with an article published on our Op-Ed page today. It seems to us, however, that the intervention lacks the former PM's usual rigour and, uncharacteristically, pandered to emotionalism.

Mr Seaga, like this newspaper and the vast majority of Jamaicans, is horrified by Jamaica's high level of homicides and, particularly, the recent spate of killing of children. He, like the rest of us, is in search of effective solutions.

Capital punishment

Now, Mr Seaga, as he told us in his speech on Sunday at the launch of football's Premier League competition, is not in favour of hanging, which we interpret to mean capital punishment in general. But, he feels that the current circumstances call for extraordinary action.

"I say hang them, hang them and hang them high!" Mr Seaga declared.

The statement suggests a baying for a hot, raw and withering vengeance that belies Mr Seaga's normal calmness, or the tone expected from this elder statesman. But worse, Mr Seaga failed to show logical analysis, how, in the context of Jamaica, capital punishment is efficacious.

Or, to put it another way, Mr Seaga and the other proponents of the carnival of hanging have missed the point.

For now, put the ethical and moral debate about capital punishment aside and assume that it has value as deterrence. But, before the state goes on this excursion of executions, it has to have bodies to legally hang.

In the scheme of things, taking into account Jamaica's homicide rate, these are relatively few. Each year, there are over 1,500 murders in Jamaica and the police claim to 'clear up' perhaps 40 per cent of these, which range from actually nabbing a suspect to identifying a suspect, but mostly the latter.

Convictions

The specific data are hard to find, assuming they are collated and kept somewhere, but it is reasonable to assume that no more than 10 per cent - here, we are being generous - of the homicides even end with a court case and conviction. And, these convictions are usually several years after the crime.

The clear implication is that in Jamaica people can kill with impunity. Murderers know this. Capital punishment, therefore, is unlikely to be a deterrent.

This is why much of the debate about capital punishment, particularly the pro-hanging version of it, is so misplaced and farcical. It is like Don Quixote on his campaign with an enemy that exists primarily in his imagination. The bayers for the rope see shapes and shadows but fail to realise that there are merely that - shapes and shadows.

The better argument would be about how to catch the criminals and the imposition of social order, which is about fixing the police force to make it credible and efficient; moral leadership that would enhance the political capital of those who govern to take the toughest decisions; and economic policies that generate investment, growth and create jobs.

The opinions on this page, except for the above, do not necessarily reflect the views of The Gleaner. To respond to a Gleaner editorial, email us: editor@gleanerjm.com or fax: 922-6223. Responses should be no longer than 400 words. Not all responses will be published.